'Nothing is more tiresome than a late-blooming philosopher'.

I LOVED this episode.  I felt it had so many fist-pump moments.  Davos doing the right thing.  Tyrion standing up to Joffrey.  Danarys fixing the speech.  And of course, Yara  'I will get the fastest boat, recruit the 50 best killers, sail through the mouth of the narrow sea, march on the dreadfort'…. I could watch…

That's cool man.  But you're really missing out.  If you want my honest opinion, you need to plow through the first 4 episodes (of GoT or The Wire).  It's like a really long novel.  The first few hours are only setting up the story, and they REALLY reward you for putting in your time.  The Wire, in particular, is…

You won't regret it, and actually you'll really probably enjoy the first few episodes more, even though you've thoroughly spoiled yourself by seeing that episode.  It's the #1 or #2 most HOLY SHIT episode that's happened in 3 seasons.  This is the best serialized television since 'The Wire', without a doubt.  Enjoy.

Oh yeah, the TV version of The Godfather.  That sounds utterly awful, who would ever want to watch that?

Rubbish was complimenting Todd's writing, not criticizing it.  And he's right to, it's quite fine.

he also has House Arryn, since Littlefinger is marrying Crazy McBreastfeeder.  But how did Tywin arrange that again?  I forget.  What is Cat's sister's motivation for marrying Littlefinger?  Doesn't she hate the Lannisters and believe they poisoned her first husband John Arryn?

You make a really good point about Sansa.  I think the reason people (like me!) keep forgetting her isn't because we hate her (as soon as Ned died, all you could do was pity her), but because she's such a passive character.  But while so many of us have been thinking about what their marriage means for Tyrion (will he…

Agree, I don't think it's as simple as bad guys becoming good guys. Just observing that some characters that start off as antagonists seem to be morphing into protagonists, and watching the moral universe of GoT get ever more complex is one of its great pleasures, and proof that it has a humanistic streak that…

Yeah, I think it's clear that the characters who have been on the receiving end of 'power' have the most chance to be redemptive.  The Hound was burned by his brother, just like Tyrion has been so emotionally abused by his father.  Also, it's clear the Hound is not a sadist.  He really only does what he think he has…

Dude, nearly no one is on your side.  Take a hint.

It's funny, there's a lot of chatter about how George RR Martin has killed off all of the 'protagonists' and left us no one to root for.  Leaving aside the fact that this is patently untrue (Arya, Tyrion, Jon Snow, Sam, Bran, Danaerys, and Brienne are all solidly sympathetic characters—for now)… Does it not seem like…

What is this ridiculous hard and fast categorization?  Jaime is just an 'antagonist'?  What, like he wears a black cowboy hat?  The story is obviously setting us up to see more dimensions in Jaime and more potential for heroism than anyone previously thought possible.  Will he redeem himself?  I don't know.  Maybe…

NC loved me's original post read: 'Hey experts, do the Starks get revenge or do they keep getting shredded?  Please tell me here in public but don't spoil anything too big!'

Yeah, I heard rumblings about a 'Red Wedding' and I could figure out on my own that Robb Stark was gonna die, but I never put them together, and certainly didn't envision the scenario would be as horrifying as it was.  Just like Danaerys' razing of the Slave City, I saw it coming and yet was completely blown away by…

Dear aptly named Idiotking:
I think it's very charming that experts come over to share the pleasure and pain with the Newbies.  What is UN-FUCKING-CHARMING are experts who are blase about informing us what we should or should not expect from a story we are watching unfold for the first time.

Asshole, you don't get to complain about non-experts' preferences on the NON-EXPERT thread.  YOU HAVE A WHOLE THREAD FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ THE BOOK.  I SUGGEST YOU FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THEEEEEEEEREEEE

Arya and Danaerys are pretty solidly sympathetic and absolutely not boring.  If you really thought Catelyn and Robb were the most identifiable protagonists on the show, then… well, to each his own, but I find it personally baffling.

Well, so far those are all characters who I feel affection for and who I want to see redeemed (Jaime, The Hound) or who already have my deepest sympathy (Arya, Brienne).  Stannis is still a bit of a cypher.  I really can't stand Melisandre, and Stannis has been under her spell for most of the time we've known him.…

DON'T ANSWER THAT.